


Lunchtime

by BruiseViolet22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Yearning, although ginny doesn't realize it, idk whether to continue this or leave it as a oneshot, linny - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 05:08:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20186767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BruiseViolet22/pseuds/BruiseViolet22
Summary: It's lunchtime, and once again Ginny finds herself gazing at Luna Lovegood.





	Lunchtime

She stared dreamily into the distance, smiling at seemingly nothing.

Ginny Weasley's best friend had always been like that. Ever since she had met Luna, the blonde had had a habit of gazing into space, laughing for no reason, and softly murmuring to herself. Most of the pupils at Hogwarts thought she was weird. They called her a "freak". Even the other Ravenclaws considered her a very strange girl. Luna had a hard time making friends with her fellow housemates, even though Ravenclaws were supposed to prize uniqueness and originality. Although some of the other Ravenclaws tried to be nice to her and would sometimes try to engage in awkward conversation with her, nobody really knew how to handle her.

Nobody understood Luna Lovegood.

Nobody, except for Ginny Weasley.

Ginny had known Luna since they were little children. Back then, they weren't as close as they were now. But sometimes they hung out with each other, when Ginny wanted a girl's company instead of hanging out with her brothers or when Luna felt lonely as the only child living in her household.

Luna had always been a misfit, even since childhood. She hadn't played the same games the Weasley children had played - her games involved strange whisperings, dancing around fairy rings, picking lavender and roaming around the hill they lived on, feeling the dew drops under her bare feet. She would dig in the soil and collect the things she discovered buried there. Sometimes, late at night, she would go outside and dance wildly under the silvery light of the moon, and then fall asleep on the soft green grass - something Molly Weasley would never have let her kids do.

Her mother's death had been hard on Luna. They had been so close. The pain had hit young Luna and her father hard, and even though Luna lived in one world, her mind remained in another. Reality slipped away from her. Her mother had been a stabilizing influence in her life, the more grounded one of her parents, and without her around Luna became frozen in her father's dreamlike world, never quite seeming to understand how the world worked outside of their own hilltop home, the world they had invented full of fairy places and imaginary beasts. They were indifferent to the real world and its problems.

Being the strange, quiet child that was unable to socialize properly due to her unusual upbringing never seemed to go away. Her inability to act "normally" followed her to Hogwarts. Which is why for the first few years, the only person who would regularly talk to her was Ginny. Ginny had also had a difficult time making friends. She was never an outcast like Luna, but she had been painfully shy when she first arrived to Hogwarts. So Luna and Ginny ended up becoming close friends.

Even though Ginny was popular now, while Luna remained unpopular, they were still friends. No amount of people telling Ginny to ditch the "weirdo" could ever convince Ginny to give up her best friend. She cared for Luna far too much.

Which was why at lunchtime, Ginny would watch over Luna. Although Luna often sat at the Gryffindor table at lunch, she sometimes wandered off to goodness knows where during lunch and traipsed back into the Great Hall when lunchtime was nearly over. On days when this happened, Luna would seat herself at the Ravenclaw table, which was nearer to the entrance of the Great Hall than the Gryffindor table. Sitting at the Ravenclaw table instead of spending time walking to the end of the Great Hall, which was where the Gryffindor table was located, gave her more time to eat in the short time frame she had left.

Even though Luna was one of the kindest pupils in the school and was always polite to everyone, it didn't protect her from bullying. Shouts of "Loony" would follow the blonde down the hallways as she skipped to class. Lately, Draco Malfoy and his cronies had taken to harassing Luna. Malfoy had seen how she had become friends with Harry Potter recently and anybody who was friends with Harry was fair game for Malfoy to bully. Which was why Ginny kept her eyes on the Ravenclaw table, ready to defend her friend if Malfoy tried to cause trouble.

But there was more to Ginny's gazing than just making sure Luna wasn't being bullied. Truth be told, Ginny _ liked _ looking at Luna. There was something about her best friend that Ginny loved to look at, something so incredibly appealing to Ginny. Ginny couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was about the Ravenclaw girl that entranced her. Was it the grey eyes that seemed to emit a starlike glow? Or the wild flowers woven into her hair, which was the same colour as the moon? Perhaps it was the fluid, oddly graceful motions her body made whenever she moved. Whatever it was, Ginny Weasley had a hard time taking her eyes off her friend. When she looked at Luna, she was filled with a strange sense of yearning, of wanting something. But she didn't quite know what it was that she wanted.

Her emotions when she looked at Luna were vaguely reminiscent of how she felt when she was infatuated with Harry, but at the same time were somehow very different. Ginny supposed it was just affection for the girl she had known since childhood.

Ginny was mulling over the question that had been on her mind for the last few months - what _ was _ it that made Luna so pleasing to look at? - when she noticed movements coming from the Ravenclaw table. Some of the Ravenclaws were beginning to stand up and walk out of the Great Hall, even though lunch wasn't over yet. It was common for the Ravenclaws to leave early, so that they would have more time to organize their textbooks and to glance over homework in the hopes of catching mistakes they hadn't noticed before. But Luna did not go with them. She remained in her place at Ravenclaw table, frozen in her dreamlike state. She was gently flicking through _ The Quibbler, _ the magazine her father edited. She didn't seem to notice the pupils around her leaving, although if she had noticed, Ginny didn't suppose she would pay any attention to them.

Ginny had been lost in her thoughts, until suddenly she felt somebody brush against her. She looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing up. Like the Ravenclaws, Hermione would sometimes leave lunch early to do some last minute studying. But instead of making her way to the door, she looked down at Ginny with a small smile on her face. Had she noticed Ginny had spent the last few minutes staring at the Ravenclaw lunch table?

Hermione's eyes darted from Ginny over to Luna, before looking back to Ginny. Hermione bent her head down to Ginny's until she was level with the redhead's ear. "If you were blushing any brighter, your face would explode." Hermione informed Ginny, chuckling softly. Ginny hadn't realized she was blushing. Ginny looked at Hermione. Her cheeks had managed to turn an even deeper shade of red. They were now the same colour as her hair. "It's okay, Ginny. There's no need to feel embarrassed. It's perfectly natural. Well, see you in the Common Room later." Hermione said quietly so that no-one would hear, before walking away from the Gryffindor table.

Wait. What exactly did Hermione think was going on? Ginny would ask her later. But for now, she was going to turn her gaze back to Luna Lovegood.


End file.
